Feedback Friday - September 14, 2012

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Another week has passed, another Friday comes. And with it this week, the anniversary of 9/11, killings in Libya, US embassies on high alert, and an election in full thievery mode. Why do you live in the USSA again?

This week in Friday Feedback, devoted TDV readers just like you ask our intepid staff of freedom fighters and defenders of liberty to answer your questions, comments, and concerns about the ever changing world around us, and how to find a way to live in it.

On to the feedback... 

HOW TO SAVE TO BUILD A SELF-SUSTAINABLE PROPERTY

Hi,

I am an avid fan of your blog and have a few questions. I am currently Active Duty Army and have managed to accumulate over 300 oz of silver, a few good weapons with ammo, a years supply of food for me and my wife, and a 60 day supply of water. I really feel that I want to build a self sustainable property and save for it before I get out March 2016. Currently I am $12,000 in credit card debt with no mortgage/car payment. What would your recommendation be as to how I proceed from this point? Mind you, my wife and I own a small business together and both make a decent living.

Thank you for all that you do, you are an inspiration!

CW

Jeff’s Response:

Hi Chase,

First of all, you are way ahead of most others already. All that silver, food, water and means of self-defense...Good for you!

But then there's that credit card debt. It's definitely not ideal (though we commend you on not having a mortgage or car debt). We here at TDV don't like consumer debt, but the question is: does it make more sense to pay the debt off entirely as soon as you can, or just keep making minimum payments and use the rest of your funds to save? When we say “save” we mean with real money like gold and silver of course. Because if we go into hyperinflation in the next 2-5 years (a real possibility as should be clear with Bernanke announcing yet another round of inflation just yesterday), that credit card debt will be literally like nothing.

You may be able to pay off your $12,000 in debt with less than 10 ounces of silver...and maybe even just one ounce! We know it sounds kind of crazy now, but during hyperinflation crazy numbers become the new normal. Just look at the Weimar Republic, Argentina and Zimbabwe.

Even if we don't get hyperinflation, at this point we're confident that regular plain old inflation will help push silver prices well into the triple digits and that $12,000 in debt will be handily taken care of by less than 100 ounces of silver. 

What we can't say is exactly when that will happen. It's anybody's guess if silver's rate of appreciation will be greater than the interest on the debt. Silver has handily beat credit card interest in the past decade and we suspect it will continue to outperform that interest in the future.

Right now, for example, we wouldn't advise that you sell off part of your silver to pay down that debt...because silver was already gathering steam before QE3 and may be set to surge toward over $50 before the new year. There could be a 50% gain in the next three or four months. That would beat even an extremely high 30% yearly credit card rate. You'd kick yourself if you sold your silver now instead of just a little later in order to pay down your debt. In fact, we'd recommend buying a little extra silver right now instead of selling it off.

Again, we're posing a strong possibility, not a guaranteed prediction. We can't guarantee that silver will appreciate faster than the 18-30% interest on consumer debt, at least not in the short term. So hedge your bet there by getting that interest rate as low as possible. If you can, get a credit line from a bank at 3-5% to pay off your higher interest rate loan. Pay this low interest rate loan back at the minimum rate while using any spare money to keep buying silver and gold.

And for regular updates on what you can do to prepare for economic meltdown in the USSA, be sure to subscribe to our new TDV Homegrown newsletter. The first issue goes out Sept 19 and a year's subscription will be just $39! You'll have your chance to sign up for it very soon. So keep an eye out. 

DIFFICULTY WITH CUSTOMS? IN THE US? WHAT?

I'm a retired FAA Air Traffic Controller and followed a fellow retired FAA employee over here to Thailand. When I tried to get back to my house in Fort Lauderdale the 3rd time via LAX, a woman passport person put an S (secondary screening) on my card. The green card non-citizens were getting stamped through. But not me. They wanted to know why I had been in Thailand for 1 year and what was I doing over there? I said I had a Thai GF and went back and forth. My question to you is what do they want to hear at Customs to not get me another dreaded S on my customs form and a possible delay of my connecting flights? What should anyone say to these goons? Please get a database of what they're asking and what will let us get through.

David C.

Jeff’s Response:

Hi David,

Yes, this is the sad world we live in where some bottom-dwelling 20-year-old kid or housewife with many more pounds of butt fat than IQ points who found their job from an advertisement on a pizza box can put on a blue uniform, write a letter on your passport and ruin your day and maybe even ruin your life. There is really no foolproof way to guarantee these goons won't make your life miserable. If you plan to travel into the US or Canada by plane, just accept that you're taking a risk. That's why so many expat Americans and Canadians will try their best to avoid even having to change planes in the US or Canada when traveling internationally. 

To avoid the worst of it, some of us here at TDV will take a train across the US-Canada border or drive across the US-Mexico border. Recently TDV editor Gary Gibson and I chose to fly from Acapulco to Tijuana and then drive across the US-Mexico border to San Diego and Carlsbad instead of flying straight from Mexico into the US, just to avoid any hassle. Driving across the the US-Canada border, however,  can be just as dangerous as flying across as this Candian couple found out the hard way.

Flying between the US and Canada certainly isn't any better. I had a friend travel from Canada to the US and he was stopped by the goons in the US and asked how much money he had. Because he was going to Vegas to gamble he had brought exactly $10,000. They asked to see it and then they counted it. They asked him to empty his pockets completely and he had a Canadian $5 bill in his pocket that he had forgotten about so the total came up to $10,005. Because he was over the limit they took his money and he is now on a no-fly list… he can never travel internationally again by plane because he only has the one passport and will almost certainly have no chance of getting another one because this no-fly designation will likely show up on an FBI or police report when applying for other passports… not to mention the near impossibility of traveling from Canada to Paraguay or the Dominican Republic to apply without flying.

Think about that. All that over a single $5 bill. Any excuse for these police state goons to ruin someone's life and make them a prisoner. You know, I can't help but laugh at people who want “efficient” or “corruption-free” government. That's efficient government for you! With a less efficient government my friend would not have had to count the money in the first place. Or he might have been allowed to leave the $5 bill or just spend it and then be allowed to go on his way to his flight. With a more corrupt government he could have slipped the agents a $20. Even if he had to bribe them with $200 or $2000, it would have been better than losing the entire $10,000 and getting put on a no-fly lifst. None of these are an option with the “upright” and incorruptible thugs in Canada and the US...which is why I try to stay away from those two places as much as possible.

This is also why people need to be running, not walking, to secure a second passport. All it takes is drinking 3 beers and getting caught driving by the police in the US and you will have a criminal record and no chance of getting another passport. This is how they are closing the doors without people even noticing. I'm convinced that in the future there will be millions more Americans caught up in this trap...who will be unable to leave the country legally...and who will therefore be fleeing across the Mexican border illegally on foot when the food riots and martial law begin. (You didn’t think that wall was to keep Mexicans out, did you?) Or even trying to sail illegally to the Caribbean and hoping for the best. There doesn't have to be a nationwide shutting down of the borders. A “soft shutdown” is already creeping into place within the existing rules. If you don't want to get caught up in this net, secure your second passport now.

If you have any questions, comments or hate mail send it to tdv@dollarvigilante.com

That's it for this week's Feedback Friday. Keep those questions coming! Til next time...